Today's News

By SHAINA STOCKTON, Staff
The Crooked Road, Virginia’s heritage music trail, has proposed that its coverage region of 19 counties and four cities in Southwest Virginia be designated as a National Heritage Area, “based on the region’s unique musical heritage and its significant role in the formation of American music,” according to a press release provided by the organization.

Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record.
The listings are complete. The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing.
For information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

District Court

These sentences were recorded in October 2012 in the Grayson County District Court office, Independence. Sentences may be appealed:

RICHMOND — Starting this summer, the state’s Parole Board will have to justify why it has denied a prisoner’s petition for release under a bill that passed the General Assembly last month.
HB2103 requires the board to conduct a “timely and thorough review” of parole petitions and, if denied, to provide specific reasons.
Virginia did away with parole in 1995, but several thousand prison inmates – about 4,500 in 2012 – sentenced prior to that remain eligible for early release each year.

Speed trap
Can you have an investigative reporter determine why the bypass around Hillsville speed limit is only 55 when most areas that have similar features would have a 60 or 65 mph speed limit. I’m concerned that every time I use the bypass it has become a speed trap for the Hillsville Police Department to spend their time trying to catch people doing 55 on a highway that is designed for higher speeds.

The Virginia Board of Medicine reports that three physicians practicing in the Twin Counties were reprimanded for pre-signing multiple blank prescriptions for a nursing home, in violation of state code.
The prescriptions were to be used only for emergencies, but were “not dated or signed by [the doctors] on the day when issued, as required by the Code [of Virginia],” the board found.
The board issued the reprimands in June 2012. All three physicians are still permitted to practice medicine, and their licenses were not revoked or suspended.

By SHAINA STOCKTON, Staff
With the high volume of floodwaters early this year because of heavy rainfall, plans for the Galax Bottom Neighborhood Revitalization Project seem more urgent than ever.
The low-lying "Bottom" neighborhood beside Chestnut Creek includes flood-prone Givens Street and is bordered by Caldwell, Meadow, Shaw and Grant streets.

HILLSVILLE — Having autism is kind of like being in a foreign country and not speaking the language, but one parent has found that an iPad can help bridge the communication gap.
Jennifer Dobbs hopes that www.thepuzzlingpiece.com can provide an iPad that son Tyler can use at home, after seeing a benefit from using one in Carroll County Public Schools.
The website was created by Melissa Winter, a mother of an autistic child who wanted to raise and funds to help children and families affected by autism.